


round and round

by cosmicpath



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff and Humor, M/M, ft. lucky as a celebrity guest, jonghyun still can't ride a bike, minki is a smartass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-05 11:46:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14043594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicpath/pseuds/cosmicpath
Summary: minki attempts to take his stubborn cat on a walk and finds himself unexpectedly running into a special somebody instead





	round and round

**Author's Note:**

> my very first fic ever and of course it’s a totally nonsense jren prompt! enjoy

There were a lot of things Minki could’ve been doing on a sunny Saturday afternoon. An _endless_ amount of things at that. Sleeping in, finishing up lecture notes, finally getting around to the mountainous pile of dirty laundry staring back at him from the corner of his room, bribing his roommate Aron to do it for him. He was a busy guy after all.

Instead he found himself standing in the middle of the sidewalk, helplessly tugging at a stubborn cat on a leash.

“Please, Lucky,” Minki begged, voice tinged with a tone of desperation that was almost laughable. “You can’t just _lay_ there. It’s called a _walk_ for a reason.”  
  
The feline refused to budge, paws planted defiantly on the concrete and not sparing her distressed owner a single glance. An exasperated sigh escaped the man’s lips. Another tug on the leash proved to be just as unavailing as his previous attempts and his only choice at this point was to accept defeat.

Maybe trying to recreate a Buzzfeed video titled _We Tried Walking Our Cats On Leashes So You Don’t Have To!_ was a questionable decision on his part, he thought.

Maybe he should’ve taken note of the last half of the video title too.

“Too late to turn back now, huh,” Minki muttered under his breath, eyes shooting daggers at the seemingly innocent cat who had begun rubbing her head against his shin.

Having given up all hope for a successful walk, the tall man reached down to pick up his bratty feline. His anger dissipated once Lucky had settled in his arms. How could he be mad at a face like that?

“It’s not your fault,” he assured, half-expecting the cat to understand. She could only peer up at him with curious eyes. “I should consider myself lucky you even let me put this stupid leash on you in the first place."

The comment only earned him an impassive blink. He let out another sigh.

 

___________________

 

The scent of flowers carried by pleasant breezes were telltale signs that spring had arrived. Couples sat with picnic blankets as children chased one other through the grass, shrieking with delight. Tufts of cotton candy clouds drifted across clear blue skies. The local park was a popular gathering place on days like these and Minki had somehow found his way there as well.

He'd decided to sit on a park bench, overlooking those who were taking their usual routes about the dirt path surrounding the perimeter of the park. With a content furball in his lap, the warm weather easily lulled him to sleep.

As Minki’s eyes closed shut, a noise snapped him out of his slumber.

_Thud!_

The noise was followed by a soft _oof_.

Curious to see (and slightly irked by) who or what had interrupted his tranquil state, his eyelids fluttered open.

Minki was greeted by a scrawny, smaller man in a grey hoodie sprawled on the ground in front of him. His legs were entangled in a toppled bicycle laying beside him, groaning in pain. Before Minki could open his mouth to say anything, the man noticed the startled expression on his face and spoke first.

“Ah, I’m okay! I got knee pads,” he exclaimed, waving his hands frantically and gesturing to the scuffed knee pads he wore. It was quite evident that this wasn’t the first time he’d fallen. He hurriedly untangled himself from the bike to stand up. “See? Legs are still intact and working just fine.”

After brushing the dirt off of his jeans, the smaller man picked up his bike and mounted it.

“Sorry for waking you and your little friend up, I’ll try to fall more quietly next time,” he joked, giggling a sheepish _hehehe_ before teetering away down the dirt path.

Minki sat dumbfounded, mouth gaping open in silence. Their interaction had been so rushed and one-sided, all he could do now was watch the unnamed man shrink into the distance as he pedaled - or at least attempted to pedal - farther away.

_What a strange guy._

A hint of a smile spread on his lips at the thought of the clumsy mystery man in his way-too-big hoodie. Lucky had already dozed off again, curled into a furry lump on Minki’s lap. He stayed awake this time, not wanting to miss his chance if the amateur bicyclist were to come around again.

 

___________________

 

Time passed by much too slow for Minki’s liking and he’d considered just going home more than once, until he finally spotted a familiar grey hoodie heading closer towards him. The dubbed Mystery Man was still struggling to keep the bike going straight on the dirt path, his nose scrunched in concentration and knuckles white from gripping the handlebars. He wasn’t getting much progress done wobbling around like a baby taking its first steps.

“Hey!” Minki yelled, hands cupped around his mouth to project his voice. “Loosen up on the handlebars! They’re not gonna run away from you!”

The sudden remark caught the Mystery Man off guard, causing him to swerve his bike onto the grass and topple over.

Chuckling to himself, Minki moved Lucky from his lap and onto the park bench, tying the other end of the leash onto the metal armrest to make sure she stayed in place (as if she had anywhere else to go). She paid no mind to the commotion around her anyways.

He jogged over to the man laying in the grass, still dazed by the fall.

“Hello? You still there?” Minki squatted down and waved a hand over the Mystery Man’s blank face.

In response, the man sat up almost instantaneously, an alarmed look on his face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that,” Minki said, partially apologetic and partially amused. Now it was the Mystery Man’s turn to be at a loss for words.

“Nice to meet you, by the way. Is there a name I can call you that isn’t ‘Klutzy Bicyclist’?”

Finding his composure, the man cleared his throat and answered. “J-Jonghyun. Kim Jonghyun.”

“It suits you.” A warm smile and an extended hand. “Choi Minki.”

Jonghyun took his hand and shook it, seemingly more at ease than before. Still holding his hand, the taller man stood, pulling Jonghyun up with him. He then picked up the toppled bike from the grass. If he was being honest, he pitied the bike. With its lopsided seat and scraped paint, it was in desperate need of a revamp.

“Bicycle training starts now. Not to sound rude or anything but I think we both know you don’t have much luck teaching yourself,” Minki said in a matter-of-fact tone.

A wide smile blossomed on Jonghyun’s face and his eyes turned to soft crescents as he laughed.

“Wah… You caught me,” he feigned disbelief. “So, where should I start?”

“Well,” Minki pretended to be deep in thought. “Do you know what a wheel is?”

 

___________________

 

The rest of their afternoon consisted of Minki chasing after Jonghyun to make sure he wouldn’t have anymore falls (Spoiler alert: he still did). His bicycle suffered a few more injuries, but fortunately, Jonghyun still had all four limbs intact by the end of their session. They had stayed on the dirt path closest to Lucky’s park bench in case any suspicious catnappers came by, which none did. The sun began to set and their energy depleted until they decided to call it quits.

Sitting side by side on the park bench, the two shared a comfortable silence. The clear blue skies were now tinted a warm orange and most of the people at the park had headed home, leaving behind a quiet atmosphere in place of a once lively one.

“You know,” Minki’s eyes were still focused on the sunset ahead of them. “I’ve never seen a grown man fall off of a bike that many times before.”

Jonghyun stifled a laugh at the abrupt comment. “And I’ve never seen a grown man walk a cat on a leash.”

“Touché.”

Another silence filled the air between them. Only the rustling of leaves in the wind and Lucky’s gentle purr could be heard. She had taken an affinity towards Jonghyun, quickly becoming comfortable in his presence as she pawed playfully at the strings of his hoodie.

“Thanks...for today,” Jonghyun cleared his throat at an attempt to mask his bashfulness, looking down at the cat in his lap. “I had a lot of fun. Really.”

Minki caught a glimpse of the other man’s timid eyes and flushed cheeks.

“No problem, anytime,” Minki responded, attempting to sound as nonchalant as possible. He had a reputation to uphold, and he wasn’t going to let sweaty palms and a pounding heart get in the way. ( _It’s just the exercise_ , he told himself. _Have I always been this out of shape?_ )

“Do you mind if we…” Jonghyun’s voice trailed off as he mumbled something unintelligible.

“Huh?”

“Oh….uhm….I said do you mind if we exchange numbers? Since we’re friends now. Only if you want to though! Be friends, that is. Ah, you know what I mean!”

Minki found the other’s nonsense rambling endearing; the way Jonghyun stumbled over his own words and pouted in a petulant manner.  

“Of course,” he responded, fishing his phone from his pocket and handing it to Jonghyun to input his number. “Does this mean I’m being paid to be your professional cycling coach now? I accept Paypal if you’re wondering.”

After inputting his number as a new contact, he handed the phone back to Minki. “Ha ha, real funny,” his voice dripped with sarcasm, despite the bright smile still present on his face. “I texted myself by the way, so I already have your number.”

“Gotcha,” Jonghyun took his phone and jammed it into his back pocket. “It’s starting to get dark. You should head home before any monsters come out to get you.”

“You’re a funny one, you know that?”

“I get that a lot.”

Gentle laughter erupted between them much longer than it should’ve, knowingly doing so to stretch what was left of the time they had together. Minki was the first to initiate their parting. He stood up to pick up Lucky from the comfort of Jonghyun’s lap, much to her dismay.

“I’m gonna head back first,” Minki did his best to hide his reluctance to do so. “Shoot me a text when you get home?”

His question came off more as a command, but Jonghyun still nodded in response.

(In that moment, Minki could’ve sworn he saw stars twinkling in Jonghyun’s eyes as he looked up at him. _It must be allergies_ , he convinced himself. _Just watery eyes._ )

With hesitant waves and more goodbye’s than necessary, the two eventually parted ways and headed home in opposite directions.

 

___________________

 

Once Minki arrived his dorm, he was greeted by Aron who was sitting comfortably on the couch, TV remote in hand.

“How’d it go?” Aron asked, not diverting his gaze from whatever was on screen. “I’m just asking out of common courtesy. I already knew cat-walking was a stupid idea from the beginning.”

Minki rolled his eyes, not wasting his energy on answering as he took the leash off of Lucky and let her retreat to the consolation of her cat tower.

Later, the two roommates microwaved leftovers from the previous day and shared it on the couch while watching _Gaga: Five Foot Two_ (as suggested by resident Little Monster, Minki). Aron was quick to fall into a food coma before the movie was even halfway through, so Minki opted to wash up and get to any unfinished chores that his incompetent roommate had neglected. It took longer than expected to finish his tasks, but he was soon rewarded by the comfort of his own bed. 

It was a little embarrassing how sore Minki’s feet were from an afternoon of light exercise. He really needed to get out more because apparently, playing _Just Dance_ doesn’t count as “real exercise”.

Lounging in bed with pain relief patches hastily stuck onto the soles of his feet, he realized he’d completely forgotten to check for Jonghyun’s confirmation text and scrambled for his phone on the nightstand. As expected, two messages glowed from his screen.

  
**Jonghyun [6:08 pm]**

_just arrived home ^_^ hope you and lucky got home safe~_

  
**Jonghyun [6:10 pm]**

_let’s meet up again before i forget how to bike LOL :P_

  
Minki couldn’t help but grin at Jonghyun’s excessive use of emoticons and typed a response. The other was quick to reply.

  
**Minki [11:03 pm]**

_u can’t forget how to ride a bike u doofus_

_and if ur only befriending me for lucky then just take her!!!_

  
**Jonghyun [11:04 pm]**

_wahhh you caught me again @.@_

_when should i come pick her up then??_

  
**Minki [11:05 pm]**

_hey watch it……..stay away from her…._

  
**Jonghyun [11:06 pm]**

_hehe just kidding >.<_

_it’s getting late so let’s talk tmr! goodnight minki~ n_n_

  
**Minki [11:07 pm]**

_goodnight jonghyun_

 

Minki placed his phone back on the nightstand and rolled over on his bed, grabbing a pillow and hugging it to his chest tightly. He caught himself smiling like a giddy fool.

Developing a schoolgirl-esque crush on a man he barely knew was not a very Minki thing to do. Whatever _that_ meant. Who would’ve thought a couple hours of biking around in circles could bring two people together?

Aron’s faint snoring could be heard from the living room, and Minki’s eyelids began to droop. Fatigue washed over him, but even in his drowsiness, it felt like Jonghyun was going round and round his mind too.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u enjoyed my amateur writing and that i helped the jren tag drought just a little lol!! this is dedicated to a good friend of mine who is always open to my stupid prompts and writing <3
> 
> (this started out as a drabble but i got carried away so forgive me) 
> 
> feel free to leave any comments and/or kudos as they’re greatly appreciated!  
> thank u for reading~


End file.
